Famous Philippine lake under threat from invasive specie

Manila: Nearly a decade after an invasive freshwater specie all but replaced indigenous fish population, the Laguna Lake is once more being besieged by type of aquatic dweller.

Laguna Lake or Laguna de Bai, located southeast of Manila, had been home to an unwelcome population of the suckermouth catfish or commonly known as janitor fish (Hypostomus plecostomus); but now it is increasingly getting populated by knifefish, another invasive and bigger fish specie.

Militant fisherfolk group, Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya of National Movement of Fisherfolk) and the Save Laguna Lake Movement (SLLM) aired concern that the increasing population of knifefishes in the Laguna de Bai are endangering the livelihood of small fishermen there.

Knifefish is not indigenous to the lake. Like the suckermouth catfish, which came from Latin America, it as been suspected that the fishes had been dumped by irresponsible ornamental pet breeders in the lake.

Like the suckermouth, which had been detested and regarded as pests as it competes with the indigenous fish population for food, the knifefish is expected to affect the ecological balance of the lake.

According to Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap the new invasive fish specie is expected to compete for food with fish stocks in the lake such as bangus (milkfish), tilapia, and big head (Imelda) carp.

Hicap said a foremost concern in the proliferation of knifefish in the lake is that it grows faster than any of the three main fish species grown in fish cages in the lake.

"Secretary Nereus Acosta should mobilise all state resources to investigate the proliferation of knife fish and stop this new breed of monster from destroying the livelihood of both fish capture and fish culture producers," said Hicap.

Acosta is President Benigno Aquino III, adviser for environmental protection.

Salvador France, SLLM convener said, it is not unusual for Laguna Lake fishermen to have knifefish included in their regular catch.

He said that over the the last six months, knifefish caught by Laguna Lake fishermen now comprise 70 per cent of the catch.

"Since it was not a familiar fish, nobody wants to eat it," he said.

Unlike the suckermouth however, knifefishes are actually edible. In Laos, it is considered as a delicacy.

Despite being edible however, experts still believe that this does not make the knifefish any less alarming.

Anson Tagtag, a government wildlife specialist, had forewarned of the grave ecological threat if alien species will continue to invade our ecological system. He said that alien species could transform the landscape, wipe out native species and destroy the diversity of the ecosystem.